Austin Willis

Canadian actor and TV host (1917–2004)

Kate Reid

(m. 1953; div. 1962)

Gwen LaForgy

(m. 1984)

Children2

Alexander Austin Willis, CM (30 September 1917 – 4 April 2004) was a Canadian actor and television host.^[1]^[2]

Biography

Austin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia to parents Alexander Samuel and Emma Graham (Pushie) Willis. His older brother, J. Frank Willis, was a radio broadcaster with the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (later the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

In 2002, Austin was made a Member of the Order of Canada. He is best known internationally for his appearance as Simmons, the man whom Auric Goldfinger beats at cards in the opening scenes of the James Bond film, Goldfinger. Originally he was to have played Felix Leiter but, at the last minute, fellow Canadian Cec Linder switched roles with him.^[3]

In Canada, he had a varied film and TV career, ranging from the early science-fiction series Space Command, to hosting Cross-Canada Hit Parade for several years in the 1950s. In the 1970s he found new fans as the host of the humorous game show This Is the Law. He also hosted the tv filler program "So The Story Goes".

Willis was married twice. His first marriage was in 1953, to Canadian actress Kate Reid, and they had two children together before divorcing in 1962. He married Gwen LaForgy in 1984, and was with her until his death, at 86, in 2004.^[4]

Filmography

1945 Guests of Honour
1947 Bush Pilot as "Red" North
1948 Sins of the Fathers as Dr. Ben Edwards
1953 Space Command as Dr. Fleming
1955-1958 Cross-Canada Hit Parade as Host
1956 The Cage
1958 A Dangerous Age as Police Officer
1958 Wolf Dog as Clem Krivak
1959 The Mouse That Roared as United States Secretary of Defense
1959 Upstairs and Downstairs as McGuffey
1959 Too Young to Love as Mr. Collins
1960 Q.E.D. as Host
1960 Crack in the Mirror as Hurtelaut
1960 I Aim at the Stars as John B. Medaris
1960 The Barbarians as Varro
1960 The Night They Killed Joe Howe^[5]
1961 Arch Oboler's 1+1: Exploring the Kinsey Reports as Sam Tooray, The Divorcee
1964 Goldfinger as Mr. Simmons
1964 Seaway (TV) as Admiral Henry Fox
1966 Don't Forget to Wipe the Blood Off
1967 One Hundred Years Young (TV) as Host
1967 Eight on the Lam as Mr. Pomeroy
1967 Hour of the Gun as Anson Safford
1967 The Rat Patrol – Season 1, Episode 26 as Dr. Anderson
1968 The Boston Strangler as Dr. Nagy
1970 Frankenstein on Campus as Cantwell
1970 The Silent Force episode "The Octopus"
1971 Face-Off as Graydon Hunter
1972-1976 This Is the Law as Host
1979 C.H.O.M.P.S. as Head Engineer
1980 The Last Flight of Noah's Ark as Slabotsky
1982 Firefox as Walters
1985 Kane & Abel as Senator Willis
1986 The Boy in Blue as Bainbridge

References

^ "Willis, Austin, 1917-2004". memoryns.ca. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
^ League, The Broadway. "Austin Willis – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
^ p.49 Dunbar, Brian Goldfinger: Director, Guy Hamilton 2001 Longman
^ "'This Is the Law' host Austin Willis dead at 86". CBC News.
^ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.